Taking a wet towel, she wiped the perspiration from his forehead. He watched her with dark rings under his eyelids, forehead warmer than a kettle on a stove, and heaving breath as if he had just burst out from almost drowning. It had only been a day since Sasuke decided to follow Tenten to the Hyuuga engagement party. His key intention was to watch after her and in case she got hurt, he would help her escape rather than letting her dwell in the Hyuuga mansion. In his own carelessness, he had slipped his footing on the branch he used for leverage causing Hyuuga Neji's attention to be diverted to someone else other than Tenten. His second mistake came from using a heavy dosage of chakra to get away from Hyuuga and activating his cursed seal in the process.

Staring at Tenten, he wondered if he struck out.

By completely ruining one of the rare times Tenten could ever spent with Hyuuga, Sasuke wondered if the girl in front of him held any ill will against him. By no means was she weak as she managed to drag his body back to her apartment, but did his interruption leave an unsatisfied goal?

"Are you angry Tenten?"

Her eyes grew wide at his question. "Why would I be?"

He was delirious, and he was obviously delusional as well. Tenten gave a small smile as thought back to the day before. Remembering the feeling of finally being alone with Neji gave her goosebumps. Their time alone was brief, but the fact that he paid attention to her for that time was sufficient enough to make Tenten happy. Right now, her concern had to be placed on the feverish figure in her guest bed. Perhaps she should have been upset with Sasuke, but she couldn't. The dark haired man had watched over her with concern and as a result, got chased after by Neji. She watched Sasuke slowly close his eyes into a deep sleep.

How could she get mad at a person who only worried for her?

She took her hand to his forehead. Sighing, she rose up. His body was stressed due to his cursed seal activating. Sasuke had explained to her everything when she carried him back to her place.

"Back when I used to train with Orochimaru, I embraced my cursed seal as a way to elevate my strength. Even though I left that life, the seal stays with me."

Tenten grabbed her keys as she headed out the door.

"Every time the seal activates, now that I'm not what I used to be, it strains my body."

She locked her door.

"This is my burden, I don't want any intervention, let me deal with this alone."

Lowering her head, back against the door, she slowly slid down. Hot tears flowed from her face, as she couldn't stop thinking about the words of yesterday.

He could only think about what happened that night. Something bothered him; a part of him ached when he thoughts ventured to the eventual conclusion. It shouldn't be so important to him; he had much to do and a wedding to think about.

He could only watch as she desperately cried another man's name in worry.

It did upset him that his time to talk to Tenten was cut short. Though the brief time he spent with her still seemed surreal in his mind, for once since his engagement happened, there was a feeling of normality that he missed.

A strong urge to say everything that was on his mind, to only to be stopped by an interruption.

What possessed him to stand in front of her apartment complex vexed him. Had he really decided to come all the way to her place, without any idea on what to talk about? It had hit him that for the first time in their friendship, a rift had formed between them. His life was far from charmed, but somehow his own Cinderella story came true in the end. Finally, after proving himself over and over, he was truly looked upon as an equal to the Main members. To become the future leader for being born a Branch member was no ordinary feat, Neji had the help of many friends on the way.

You have been the one there for me.

He truly felt apart from her. Tenten, the girl who had always been there for him as his teammate and his best friend, acted as if nothing was wrong during the talk in the garden. Obviously he knew something was wrong, they had trained for so long that nary a lie could slip behind him.

I can't lie to myself either.

Hyuuga Neji couldn't lie to himself either and say he wanted this to happen between them. Team Gai had always been the only constant in his life. Lee and Gai being the constant annoyances in his life while Tenten was the solid rock that supported everything he did. These past few months were already a rush and if there was any time for a heavy object to anchor him down, it was now.

In a crowd of people, I set you apart.

Will you stay by my side?

Will you help me move forward?

She sat on the steps pondering what to do. Tsunade was expecting a report on her mission sometime soon and Tenten didn't know how to explain to her idol about what happened.

Or what Sasuke said to me.

Tenten was a kunoichi, and expected to treat a mission as a mission. Her blossoming friendship with Sasuke made it hard for her to want to treat him as one.

My mission, or the trust of my friend…

Rocking herself back and forth, her hands wrapped around her knees, Tenten sighed. She rose up, deciding to check up on her sick friend. As she turned the doorknob, the shuffling of sandals caught her ear. Turning around, she stared face to face with the man that she left behind.

"Neji," she gasped in surprise. "What brings you to my area?"

He stood there quietly staring at her. From the looks of things, it seemed that she had been upset about something.

If Uchiha hurt her, he'll have to face me.

Neji inwardly scowled at the thought. Tenten was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. It was a mission, something she had to do because of what Tsunade-sama assigned.

"I wanted to talk about last night," he replied back. "There's something that I want to ask you."

He stood there in front of her, a handsome statuesque perfection. It was back to those old feelings she wanted to throw away, his voice, his eyes, everything about him. How Neji transitioned from being just a teammate to the man she had heavy feelings for, she would never know.

Will I ever let him go?

"I want you to help with the wedding."

Tenten lost her breath.

Being around Neji, his fiancée, I don't know if I could do that.

He could already feel her say no to his request. Disappointment set in him as he awaited her answer. It wasn't as if he didn't expect it, she had that mission to take care of Uchiha. Especially with after what happened yesterday, Neji wasn't expecting Tenten to be in the happiest thoughts. Still against his own judgment, he wanted to talk to her.

"Neji… I'll do it."

A shock rounded his eyes as he stared at her surprised at her response. Quickly going back to his normally stoic appearance, he nodded his head in reply. Inwardly, faint warmth filled his body as if someone had injected him with a drug. Her words of agreement alone put a strong sense of stability back into him.

"However, I do still have to think about my mission."

Neji nodded in agreement. "Have you reported what happened yesterday to Tsunade-sama?"

I don't know if I want to.

"I was going to do that sometime this afternoon."

Tenten could feel him glaring at her for lying to him.

He felt like he was about to boil over. First yesterday, she acted as if nothing was wrong and now she was trying to lie to him? Had things really fallen apart between the both of them? Neji closed his eyes and sighed as he glanced over again at his teammate. There was no doubt she was worried over that traitor of Konoha. The way she said his name when he was about to lose control. Even though he knew she was scared, she pushed those feelings aside and stood in front of Uchiha like she had nothing to lose.

The way she treats every mission.

It wasn't because she had arrogance like he did back then nor was she as passionate as Lee. With all that, Neji still admired his teammate greatly. Tenten had a quiet confidence that never wavered when she had an important mission to do. She had stated once to him back when they used to train his Kaiten on their gravel practice ground that she felt kunoichis could be up to par with shinobis. With Konoha's ratio, very few females stood out in the male dominated occupation.

She's proven to me that she is just as good.

This was the first time he had seen her this way, emotionally vulnerable during a mission. Neji couldn't lie to himself when the thought of her acting that way irritated him. She wasn't one of those irritating women who fell over at one look from a handsome man. No doubt she forged a friendship with the man, enough for her to show sympathy. Obviously she was better than that and of all people to direct kindness to, Uchiha didn't deserve any. He was a traitor of Konoha, and Tenten had the unfortunate task of having to guard him.

Uchiha should be nothing but a mission.

"Tenten, if you don't carry a report over to Tsunade-sama. Then there's no way you can carry out this mission."

She knew he was right. Regardless on how she felt about Sasuke, in the end Tsunade gave her a mission.

Why am I holding back then?

Tenten felt heaviness in her heart as she realized what was bothering her.

Sasuke isn't a monster.

It was getting to her. The looks that Sasuke got everyday everywhere they walked. Her biggest fear finally realized.

I don't want to treat him like everyone else does.

"Don't worry about okay Neji? I'll handle this, you know I can."

Neji stared at her intently. He had never doubted her before, but something was different about this. Neji wasn't blind to the fact that Tenten obviously cared about Uchiha. The fact that she had to leave his engagement party because of him upset the Byakugan user a great deal. He needed to put her back into perspective.

Her breathing was nonexistent with the way he was staring at her. Tenten noted that in the time that they talked, he was only a few inches away from her. His serious gaze watching down on her as hearts beat like a hummingbird's wings. She could smell the soft scent of juniper wafting as he curled his fingers on the side of her bangs. Like the time in the Hyuuga Garden, they were once again sucked into their own world.

"Tenten, I'm asking you one last time, report this to Tsunade-sama."

I don't know if I can.

"That's really none of your business Hyuuga."

Tenten quickly jerked her head over to see Sasuke leaning on the side of the now opened door. The dark eyed man glared daggers at Neji with the light-eyed man glared back. Even though the longhaired man towered in height, both held intimidating stances. Tenten immediately felt the angry tension between the two men as she slowly moved her eyes back and forth between them. Finally settling her gaze at the Sharingan user, she noted that he had been awake for quite some time. While it seemed that Sasuke probably felt better, his forehead still held some sweat and his breathing still harsh. She approached him, taking her hand up to his head.

"Sasuke! You should get back to bed, you still have a fever."

As the short haired man was about to retort, his bun wearing roommate started pushing him back inside the apartment. A bit flabbergasted and still very tired, he decided to avoid any argument with her. He didn't like the fact that he did what he did, but Hyuuga shouldn't have tried to interfere in things that didn't involve him.

"Hnh." Neji didn't make it hard for anyone to read that he was once again annoyed with Uchiha. Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke had a knack for interrupting that royally ticked him off but something in him snapped. It was as if he had no control over the emotions pouring into him. All in a flash, he lunged forward, Tenten facing him again with shocked eyes.

"Listen to what I said."

The sternness in his voice, she hadn't heard him use that tone since the days he hated the main branch of the Hyuuga family. She watched him walk away. Lightly touching the shoulder that Neji used to turn her around, Tenten walked into her apartment and closed her door.

What was that?

He stared at his red-faced friend. Maybe Hyuuga didn't realize her feelings or was too ignorant to know his own, but Sasuke knew well enough that Tenten was in a precarious position. Yes, he had listened to most of their conversation and it angered him to know that Hyuuga was such a meddler. However, he did have to agree with him on some points.

"He's right you know, you should tell Tsunade-sama."

He held his hand up to stop her from replying.

"I do consider you a friend, but I am also your mission too. I know I told you that this was my burden alone and that's still true. Tsunade-sama knew this risk as well but still kept me alive."

Sasuke watched Tenten relax at his explanation.

"Report this to her, I won't be angry or anything. Even if she decides to do anything, it won't change what's going inside of me."

Tenten looked away from him saddened at Sasuke's predicament. Of course, she still had to respect what he wanted; only he knew what to do for him. Though, Tenten knew if the time came, she would want to be there by his side fighting with him.

Fighting together like teammates should.

She looked back at Sasuke. His dark messy hair and bedroom eyes staring back at her, Tenten felt a small blush creep up to her face. This was definitely not the time to be a raving Sasuke fan girl. Tenten was thankful for him though; he was truly a man of understanding.

"Okay, I'll tell Tsunade-sama about what happened yesterday."

Her large brown eyes started to gleam.

"Now, get back to bed!"

Sasuke grinned in amusement as Tenten pushed him into his room.

These are the times that I truly value. The carefree times that should have been my childhood, robbed by a blood thirst that has carried me to my adulthood. It's still in me, this aching to release me from my pain.

Let me feel this peace, let me have my sanctuary.

She tossed the small stack of papers on the table. It was as she expected, the cursed seal activated. Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. There was no way she could regret placing Sasuke under Tenten's care, if there was any person capable enough, it was she. There was a reason why she was placed under Gai, the girl who simply showed passion in her goals and the people she loved.

Passion is a blinding light.

The reality was, Tsunade couldn't remove the cursed seal. Orochimaru made things too difficult to the point where operating on Sasuke would be nearly fatal. She knew she wasn't being fair to Tenten. The chance of losing Sasuke, regardless in any situation, was high. If she knew Tenten, if Tenten showed the same dedication to Sasuke as she had Neji, then it was inevitable that there was closeness.

The light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how much you follow, you can't clearly see what is there.

Neji sat on the steps of the Hyuuga Garden, his body seething in heavy warmth. Staring at the lushness, he could only think about the time alone he spent with his female teammate. Feeling guilt for leaving her in such a huff, he berated himself to never do that again. Knowing that he didn't want to feel that separation again, Neji stood up.

Back when he was younger, he felt fate dictated everything: his strength, his pain, his sorrow and lastly his revelation. Upon finding out what his father really died for, and what Naruto was willing to do to screw fate, Neji found something in himself over the years.

If fate wants to try and take those who I care about away from me…

Then…

I will fight fate.

Author's Note: I think in Ch.3, some people got confused. Neji was jealous as stated on the very last line regarding a white fire blazing or whatever I wrote. Anyways, I decided to check out that Naruto Databook chart featuring people's personalities. With Tenten, she was placed more on the passionate side of the field but not as high as Gai or Lee obviously. I think it's very true with the statement that "passion is a blinding light" in regards to Team Gai. (ie the fight with Gaara, the everlasting youth!) There does seem to be a great deal of emphasis on Neji and Tenten being apart. My reasoning for this is that there is a period of time for everyone in his or her lives where everything changes and things become different. I think it isn't uncommon that people find new people and jealousy CAN occur. I try to be sympathetic to all the characters. Neji and his dedication to family order while not necessarily doing what he wants in his heart, Tenten with her holding back on what she wants, and Sasuke with his past problems catching up to him. BLAH BLAH BLAH with my explanations, I'm rambling too much. Read and Review, critique me all you want, I love to hear what you guys have to say.